Method

Place the whole oranges and lemon juice in a large preserving pan and cover with 2 litres/ 4 pints water. If this is not enough to cover the fruit, put it in a smaller pan. If necessary, weight the oranges with a heat-proof plate to keep them under the water. Bring to the boil, cover and simmer very gently for about 2 hours, or until the peel can be pierced easily with a fork.

Warm half of the white and dark sugar in a very low oven. Pour off the cooking water from the oranges into a jug and tip the oranges into a bowl. Return the cooking liquid to the pan. Leave the oranges to cool until they are easy to handle, then cut them in half. Scoop out all the pips and pith and add these to reserved orange liquid in the pan. Bring to the boil for 6 minutes then strain this liquid through a sieve into a bowl, pressing the pulp through with a wooden spoon; the result is high in pectin, which helps to ensure the marmalade has a good set.

Pour half this liquid into a preserving pan. Cut the peel into chunky shreds, using a sharp knife. Add half the peel to the liquid in the preserving pan with the warm white and dark muscovado sugars. Stir over a low heat until all the sugar has dissolved, then bring to the boil and bubble rapidly for 15-25 minutes until setting point is reached. Stir in half the whisky.

Take the pan off the heat and skim any scum from the surface. (To dissolve any excess scum, drop a small knob of butter on the surface, and gently stir.) Leave the marmalade to stand in the pan for 20 minutes to cool a little and to allow the peel to settle, then pot in sterilised jars, seal and label. Repeat for the remaining batch.

This has made the whole house smell very Christmassy! I just wished I had known that the recipe is only instructing you to do half the amount at the start when you could double up and do it all as one batch if you have the right sized pan.
Some of the instructions are a little unclear as they only state using half the amounts but do not go on to say when to use the remainder.

I've never made marmalade or jam before, and although it was a lot of work, it was definitely worth it. I only had single malt whisky, which has come through quite strong, but is a nice compliment to the sweetness of the marmalade, if I make this again I will probably just use a blended whisky. Also I used a 15pint pan, and therefore didn't need to make in half batches but it take take about 40-45mins to get to setting point.

All in all, I'm very please with myself and this recipe, but I now hate the smell of oranges.

I followed the recipe exactly and have had the marmalade setting in the fridge for a couple of hours, but it hasn't really started jelling at all- The small amount on the spoon started setting ok- which is strange!
anything I can do to re-boil it again if it doesn't set? I used a jam thermometer which registered 220f and the mixture wouldn't go any higher without boiling over the sides of the pan... any help would be most appreciated.

I've just made this marmalade and it's fabulous. I made the whole recipe in a 15 pint maslin pan; if you do this you don't need to make it in half batches, but you do need to double the time it takes to reach setting point. Mine set beautifully in 40 minutes. I particularly like the way this recipe extracts the pectin from the pips and pith - it's efficient and really ensures that no pips stray into the finished marmalade. It also does away with the need for that irritating pip bag and I shall certainly use this method from now on. This marmalade is an unctuous and luxurious treat !

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